US2021028052A1PendingUtilityA1
Lift pin alignment method and alignment apparatus and substrate processing apparatus
Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTDPriority: Jul 25, 2019Filed: Apr 13, 2020Published: Jan 28, 2021
Est. expiryJul 25, 2039(~13 yrs left)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
H10P 72/0606H10P 72/57H10P 72/7612H10P 72/50H01J 37/32715H01J 2237/24578H01J 2237/20235H01L 21/67259H01L 21/68742H01L 21/682H10P 72/7618
43
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Claims
Abstract
A substrate processing apparatus and a lift pin alignment apparatus, the substrate processing apparatus including a chamber; a substrate plate on which the substrate is seatable; a plurality of movable lift in the substrate plate to support the substrate; a leveling sensor configured to be loadable in the chamber on the lift pins; a controller configured to receive measurement values of roll (φ) and pitch (θ) of a plane of the lift pins to calculate a rotation matrix (T) of the plane from the measurement values of roll (φ) and pitch (θ), and to calculate travel distances of the lift pins for leveling the plane to be parallel with a horizontal reference plane by using the rotation matrix (T) and to output a lift pin control signal for aligning the lift pins; and a lift pin driver to move the lift pins according to the lift pin control signal.
Claims
exact text as granted — not AI-modifiedWhat is claimed is:
1 . A substrate processing apparatus, comprising:
a chamber to provide a space for processing a substrate; a substrate plate within the chamber and on which the substrate is seatable; a plurality of lift pins protruding from within the substrate plate to support the substrate, the plurality of lift pins being configured to move upwardly and downwardly; a leveling sensor configured to be loadable in the chamber on the plurality of lift pins that protrude from the substrate plate; a controller configured to receive measurement values of roll (φ) and pitch (θ) representing an angle of a plane of the plurality of lift pins from the leveling sensor to calculate a rotation matrix (T) of the plane from the measurement values of roll (φ) and pitch (θ), to calculate travel distances of the lift pins for leveling the plane to be parallel with a horizontal reference plane by using the rotation matrix (T), and to output a lift pin control signal for aligning the plurality of lift pins in a horizontal plane; and a lift pin driver configured to move the plurality of lift pins according to the lift pin control signal.
2 . The substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to calculate a first rotation matrix (Rx) rotated by the roll (φ) about an X axis and a second rotation matrix (Ry) rotated by the pitch (θ) about a Y axis and to multiply the second rotation matrix (Ry) and the first rotation matrix (Rx) to obtain the rotation matrix (T).
3 . The substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the first rotation matrix (Rx) is represented by following equation (1), the second rotation matrix (Ry) is represented by following equation (2), and the rotation matrix (T) is represented by following equation (3):
Rx
=
[
1
0
0
0
cos
ϕ
sin
ϕ
0
-
sin
ϕ
cos
ϕ
]
Equation
(
1
)
Ry
=
[
cos
θ
0
-
sin
θ
0
1
0
sin
θ
0
cos
θ
]
Equation
(
2
)
T
=
RyRx
.
Equation
(
3
)
4 . The substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the travel distances of the plurality of lift pins are distances in a vertical direction from the horizontal plane.
5 . The substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to calculate final travel distances of the plurality of lift pins such that heights of the plurality of lift pins converge on an average height of the plurality of lift pins.
6 . The substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the controller is configured to calculate the final travel distances by subtracting a mean value of the plurality of lift pins from the travel distances respectively.
7 . The substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine an alignment state of the leveling sensor on the substrate plate.
8 . The substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to determine whether a sliding direction of the leveling sensor is aligned with XYZ coordinates of the substrate plate.
9 . The substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein, after the plurality of lift pins are moved by the calculated travel distance, the controller is configured to receive measurement values of roll (φ) and pitch (θ) from the leveling sensor and to determine whether the plane of the plurality of lift pins is within a horizontal reference range.
10 . The substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the leveling sensor has a shape corresponding to a photomask substrate or a wafer.
11 . A substrate processing apparatus, comprising:
a chamber to provide a space for processing a substrate; a substrate plate within the chamber and on which the substrate is seatable; a plurality of lift pins protruding from within the substrate plate, the plurality of lift pins being configured to move upwardly and downwardly; a leveling sensor configured to be loadable in the chamber on the plurality of lift pins that protrude from the substrate plate; a controller configured to calculate an inclination of a plane of the plurality of lift pins with respect to a horizontal reference plane based on sensing values from the leveling sensor and to output a lift pin control signal for leveling the plurality of lift pins in a horizontal plane; and a lift pin driver configured to move the plurality of lift pins by travel distances according to the lift pin control signal.
12 . The substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the leveling sensor is configured to transmit measurement values of roll (φ) and pitch (θ) to the controller.
13 . The substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the leveling sensor is configured to transmit the measurement values to the controller in real time via wireless communication.
14 . The substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the controller is configured to calculate a first rotation matrix (Rx) rotated by roll (φ) about an X axis from the measurement value of roll (φ) and a second rotation matrix (Ry) rotated by a pitch (θ) about an Y axis from the measurement value of pitch (θ) and to multiply the second rotation matrix (Ry) and the first rotation matrix (Rx) to obtain a rotation matrix (T).
15 . The substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the travel distances of the plurality of lift pins are distances in a vertical direction from the horizontal plane.
16 . The substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to calculate final travel distances of the plurality of lift pins such that heights of the plurality of lift pins converge on an average height of the plurality of lift pins.
17 . The substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the controller is configured to calculate the final travel distances by subtracting a mean value of the plurality of lift pins from the travel distances respectively.
18 . The substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to determine an alignment state of the leveling sensor on the substrate plate.
19 . The substrate processing apparatus as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the controller is configured to determine whether a sliding direction of the leveling sensor is aligned with XYZ coordinates of the substrate plate in order to select the alignment state of the leveling sensor.
20 . A lift pin alignment apparatus, comprising:
a leveling sensor on a plurality of lift pins protruding from a substrate plate to detect an inclination of a plane of the lift pins with respect to a horizontal reference plane; a controller configured to calculate the inclination of the plane of the lift pins with respect to the horizontal reference plane based on sensing values from the leveling sensor and to output a lift pin control signal for leveling the lift pins in a horizontal plane; and a lift pin driver configured to move the lift pins by travel distances according to the lift pin control signal.Cited by (0)
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